Thai Chickpea Soup

When someone asks me for a quick, cheap and healthy recipe, this one is on the top of my mind. It is amazingly easy to make and adaptable to your own taste. Simply throw in any of your favorite veggies and see if it works. Since the consistency is quite thick you could eat it as a soup as well as a sauce, like my colleague likes to do.

Serves: 4

Time: 20 min

You need:

1 leek, in rings

1 red pepper, chopped

1 courgette (zucchini), chopped 

2 cans of chickpeas, drained 

1 can of coconut milk 

2/3 tsp green thai curry paste (check for sugar!)

300 ml vegetable broth, from cube (check for gluten!)

2 fresh limes, 1 for soup, 1 to garnish in thick slices
fresh coriander

1. Heat up some olive/coconut oil in a large soup pan. 
2. Sauté the leek until semi- transparent
3. Add the pepper, courgette and the thai curry paste and fry for apr. 3 min.
4. Slowly pour in the coconut milk, vegetable broth and the chickpeas
5. Stir until boiling point and let it slowly cook for 5/10 min, add the juice of 1 lemon, just squeeze it
6. garnish with the other lemon and fresh coriander 

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Leon Shredded Kale and Peanut Salad

One of my favorite spots in London is Leon, hands down. Gorgeous food! I fell in love with the place and with their shredded kale and peanut salad in particular. Since I will be moving away in less then a month I need to make sure that I still can get my fix once in a while. Hence the attempt to recreate this amazing recipe. It works both as a side dish or as a complete lunch.

Serves: 2

Time: 15 min

You need:

For the salad:

400g curly kale, roughly chopped

100g white cabbage, finely sliced

2 tablespoons of roasted peanuts, in chunks

For the dressing:

1 tsp olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp honey

1/4 tsp peanut butter

1 glove of garlic, pressed

Freshly chopped coriander

1. Mix the shredded kale and cabbage, sprinkle with crushed peanuts. 
2. Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl. 

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New London Breakfast Favourite: Spinach and Spring Onion Omelette

I've been having a busy schedule since I am living in London and found out that fruit for breakfast doesn't really cut it anymore. This savory breakfast really keeps me going!

Serves: 2

Time: 15 min

You need:
5 eggs
2 spring onions
chili powder (optional)
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
1 avocado

1. whisk the eggs until yolks and egg white are fully mixed, then add in the chili (if you eat salt and pepper with your eggs, best save it for when the egg is halfway cooked, salt breaks up the consistency of the egg and makes it watery).
2. Chop the spring onion, whisk it through the egg.
3. Heat up some olive oil in a frying pan.
4. Pour the mixture in the pan, add the spinach on top and reduce the heat to half.
5. When the bottom of the omellette is solid, fold in half and reduce the heat to low, let it sit for a few more minutes.
6. Cut the omelette in half and serve with half an avocado.

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rice noodles with beef

A fun recipe


Preparation time: 20 min
Serves: 4


You need:
300g green beans
300g rice-noodles
1 lime
1,5 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons fish sauce
300g beef/ steak
1 red pepper
2 onions
1/2 iceberg lettuce
fresh mint, roughly diced (optional)

1. Remove the ends of the green beans and break them in half, cook the beans in 8 minutes.
2. Grate the zest of the lime and press the lime. Mix the juice, the grinds the honey and the fish sauce in a bowl.
3. Cook the noodles like it says on the description.
4. Cut the pepper in little pieces, the seeds are best removed by cutting the pepper in half and removing the ends, then rolling the halves between the palms of your hands vertically, the seeds will fall out. Cut the onions in rings.
5. Heat some oil in a wok, stir-fry the beef 3 minutes, take it out and add a bit of pepper.
6. Stir-fry the onions and pepper in the leftover oil for 2 minutes, then add the noodles, beans and the lime mixture. Let it cook for another 2/3 minutes.
7. Add the beef and the lettuce and let it warm up thoroughly.

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Lovely breakfast for when I am in a bit of a hurry.

When I am in a bit of a hurry or just feel like having grapefruit I prepare this nutritious breakfast. Be cautious with the soy yoghurt tough, AlproSoya has loads of sugar in their products. It tastes rather disgusting actually, Provomel is the better option in the Netherlands. You can get it at any reform store and some supermarkets.

You need:
1/2 grapefruit
1 apple
handful of walnuts (or more, when you have a busy day)
soy yoghurt.

1. Remove the pulp from the grapefruit, I think it is best done by taking a sharp knife and section each piece between the pulp, then cut around the edge of it. 
2. Peel the apple, cut it into pieces.
3. add the yoghurt.
4. sprinkle with walnuts.

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What to do when eating at someone else's?

If you have been eating like this for a while you can agree that most people are getting stressed out when they have you over for dinner. No mater how easy it is for you to eat like you do, other people will often see it is a hindrance.

What often happened for me was that I fell like I was being a nuisance and ate whatever they made and would be in pain the rest of the evening. Now that is of course not very loving and far from the ideal situation....
So. What would be the easy fix for this problem?
There is no real easy fix, but I have a few solutions.

• Invite everyone over at your place and cook the food yourself. (which is fine of course, but sometimes other people like to take care of you too.)
• Go and offer to eat out every time the word dinner is even mentioned. (Quite expensive isn't it?) 
• Make a list of all the do's and don'ts and a list of good products and hand them out to your friends. (A good solution if you have a proper allergy)
• Make a list for your friends with easy recipes that you can enjoy with them. 
• Take replacement products with you. (For example gf/df pasta, usually homemade red sauce doesn't contain anything "bad", rice noodles, rice, rice cakes etc.)

Eating a certain way does not have to keep you from enjoying dinner with friends, on the contrary, cooking meals with love and attention usually gets them interested in looking into their own eating habits as well and this creates a better understanding. 

I usually go for cooking myself or taking replacement products with me. I love cooking healthy and tasty stuff for my friends and I no longer feel guilty when I don't eat something a friend of mine has made, which by now almost never occurs anymore. But the most important thing when having dinner is that you do not stress out about restrictions and thoroughly enjoy the time spend with your loved ones. 

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Spanakorizo. Greek spinach rice

Another meal with spinach, it is just so nourishing! This dish represents spring for me and I love to eat it outside when the weather lets me. A Greek dish that is traditionally eaten as a main,  but it could work as a side dish as well. The recipe itself is vegan but I usually serve grilled lamb sausages and a nice salad on the side.  Deliciously topped with fresh lemon slices.

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 45 min

You need:

Olive oil
2 onions
1kg fresh spinach (washed)
225ml passata (tomato purée)
500ml water
handfull fresh dill
handfull fresh parsley
100g uncooked rice
handfull of roasted pine seeds
fresh lemons

1. chop the unions and saute them in the olive oil  until it is see-through.
2. add the spinach and stir fry it for a few minutes.
3. add the water and passata.
4. heat till boiling point and add the herbs.
5. add the rice and let it slowly cook for 25 minutes in an open pan.
6. when dishing up, add the pine seeds and lemon.

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Delicious start of the day

I love coconut, and to appreciate this breakfast fully you must at least like coconut a lot.. But if you do, you almost couldn't start your day better. For me it is a bit to expensive to eat on a daily basis, mainly due to the blueberries. That's why I often leave them out or go for the frozen blueberries. Feel free to experiment with other fruits as well!


Preparation time: 5 min
Serves: 1

You need:
1/2 can of coconut milk (preferably fairtrade/organic, read the label!)
handfull of blueberries
1 apple
1 pear
pumpkinseeds
walnuts
diced coconut
teaspoon of cinnamon

I think the recipe is almost self-explanatory but here we go.

1. dice the pear and apple and put it in a bowl.
2. add some  blueberries, pumpkinseeds, walnuts and the coconut pieces. 
3. pour the coconut milk in your bowl.
4. add some cinnamon.
5. Grab a nice cup of tea and enjoy!

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Spinachsoup with a spicy kick

A delicious green soup and one of my favourites. This is such an easy soup to make but it definitely leaves an impression on any diner guest.
I really love spicy food and the best thing about this recipe is that you can make it as spicy as you want. If you like it hot, add the chili in the beginning, it makes the whole soup extra-spicy. If you have kids, just add the chili in the end for the adults. I love to have this soup lukewarm, it really brings out all the flavours. If you want to have it for dinner and are afraid that it won't fill you up, add some chickpeas for more bite!

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 15 min

You need:

Coconut or olive oil
2cm of ginger
2 gloves of garlic
200ml coconut milk
750ml water
1 (chicken, vegetable if vegan) bouillon(broth) cube (gf)
3000g fresh spinach
2 tablespoons of soy sauce (gf)
1 chili pepper (in small strips)

1. Heat up the oil and fry the ginger and garlic for 2 minutes, add half of the pepper here if you like it spicy!
2. Add the coconut milk and water, crumble the bouillon cube above the pan and put the lid on. Wait till it boils.
3. Add the spinach, leave a handful out, let it cook for 3 minutes. Cut the spinach that is left in small strips for decoration. 
4. Blend the soup with a hand blender or regular blender, when blending with a regular blender, be careful, not all blenders can withstand heat!
5. Add the chili and the spinach and get yourself a nice big bowl.

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Quick all-in-one omelette with vegies and mushrooms

Perfect to take with me for lunch on a long day, it really keeps you going. You can prepare it a day in advance and eat it cold or reheated the day after. And if you make some soup and salad to go with it, it could easily be dinner. Adding soup and salad is a good idea anyway (yum).  

Really fast, easy and cheap.

Preparation time: 15 min
Serves: 4

You need:

Olive oil

2 Red onions

1 chili pepper

2 gloves of garlic (or less if you have a date)

250 g Mushrooms (any kind you prefer)

3 /4 tomatoes

5/6 eggs.

1.    Chop the onions in half rings. Sauté the onions in a bit of olive oil.

2.    Remove most of the seeds of the pepper (chop the pepper in half, remove the ends and roll the pepper gently between your hands, the seeds will fall out) and add it to the onions together with the garlic.

3.    Chop the mushrooms and tomatoes. Add the mushrooms and stir them for a bit until they are turning brown, then add the diced tomatoes. Cook till almost all the fluid has vaporized.

4.    In the mean time, beat the eggs, the longer you do this the fluffier the omelette will get. Add the egg mixture and put a lid on the pan.

5.    Eat when all of the egg is cooked solid.

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